UEFA has announced significant changes to the UEFA Champions League draw process starting from the 2024-25 season due to the competition's expansion to 36 teams. The new format will see all teams placed in one league table, with each club playing eight games - four at home and four away. To determine the fixtures, a draw will be conducted.
The draw will involve four pots, each containing nine teams, ordered by UEFA's five-year performance coefficient. Each club will face two opponents from each pot. The manual drawing of opponents, as done in the previous format, would have taken up to four hours due to the complexity of considerations within the draw.
Clubs will not be allowed to draw teams from their own country, except in cases where a fixture deadlock is unavoidable due to too many teams from the same country in one pot. This restriction will only impact leagues with four or more clubs in the competition, although UEFA aims to prevent such scenarios next season.
The only manual aspect of the draw will be the ceremonial selection of the team whose fixtures are to be determined. The computer system will then automatically allocate that team's opponents from all four pots and decide the home and away fixtures.
UEFA has assured the fairness of the draw process, stating that its computer systems are robust and audited by Ernst & Young. Additionally, there will be two limited knockout-round draws - one at the end of the league phase in January and another at the end of February for the round of 16. The draw will only determine the sides of the bracket teams fall on, with most matchups already pre-determined by positions in the league phase.
The maximum number of clubs from one association in the Champions League will be seven. Theoretically, the Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 could have up to 11 clubs, but this would require a league to win all three competitions and those clubs not securing a European place domestically.
